Office will be in room at Riverland

After two years of planning, a group of area residents next week will open Albert Lea’s Community Resource Center.

The center will open Tuesday in Room 108 at Riverland Community College and will be open to the the public from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Organizers hope the center can be a place for all residents — whether they just moved to town or have been here for a while — to go to find out about available resources. People will also be able to find out about volunteer opportunities there.

“A lot of people in our community want to volunteer but don’t know about all the opportunities,” said Amy Gauthier, administrative assistant for the United Way of Freeborn County.

A liaison from the South Sudanese community will be at the center one day a week, and a liaison from the Karen community will be there daily starting in October. The Karen representative is being funded by the Office for Refugee Resettlement. The South Sudanese liaison could not be funded through this grant because these refugees have been in the city for more than five years.

The resource center is a collaboration between multiple organizations: the United Way of Freeborn County, Senior Resources, success coaches with the Albert Lea school district, Workforce Development Inc., Semcac, the Crime Victims Crisis Center, CLOVE, The Arc of Freeborn County, Freeborn County Family Services Collaborative, Parenting Resource Center, Adult Basic Education, Experience Albert Lea and South Sudanese community leaders.

Representatives from the organizations will take turns staffing the center.

Dabang Gach, a member of the South Sudanese community, said he is excited to see the resource center open.

“It is something we’ve been working on for a while,” he said.

The resource center will provide information on tasks such as obtaining a driver’s license or bank account, how to apply for jobs, where to go to find housing, where to find child care and other guidelines, to name a few.

He said even though many of his people have been here for several years, there are still many gaps in what resources they are aware of because of language barriers.

Ann Austin, executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County, said the space in Riverland is being rented. There are many businesses in town supporting the idea as well.

A grand opening celebration will be from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 9. Organizers said the whole community is invited to attend.

People can contact representatives at the Community Resource Center at info@crcalbertlea.com or 369-1463.